Former head of Ocean County Democratic Party admits taking bribes in corruption sting

Mitsu Yasukawa/The Star-LedgerAssemblyman Daniel Van Pelt comes out of the Federal Court House in Newark in this July photo. Alfonso L. Santoro, who said he introduced Van Pelt to a government informant, admitted today to accepting bribes from the informant.The federal corruption and money-laundering sting that led to scores of arrests this summer expanded further into central New Jersey today as the former executive director of the Ocean County Democratic Party admitted taking bribes from a government informant.

Alfonso L. Santoro, 70, of Beachwood, had not been previously charged in the case. He appeared in court for the first time today and told a federal judge in Trenton he accepted $6,500 in bribes, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said. In exchange, Santoro said he agreed to introduce the informant to public officials to secure development approvals, including then-Assemblyman Daniel M. Van Pelt, a Republican from Waretown.

Van Pelt, who served 11 years as mayor of Ocean Township, was charged in July with accepting $10,000 from the informant in exchange for helping obtain environmental permits. His lawyer declined to comment today.

Santoro, a commissioner for the Ocean County Board of Elections, is the 46th person to be charged in the case, which revolved around a failed Monmouth County developer who became a government informant after being charged in 2006 with bank fraud.

Solomon Dwek spent more than two years secretly working for federal prosecutors, targeting rabbis who supposedly laundered money and public officials who allegedly took bribes. They include two state assemblymen and mayors from Hoboken, Secaucus and Ridgefield.

The majority of public officials caught in the sting hailed from Hudson County; more than a dozen were from Jersey City alone. Santoro is the fourth defendant from Ocean County on the public corruption side of the case, joining Van Pelt, Jeffrey Williamson, a Lakewood housing inspector, and Charles Ammon, one of Dwek’s former employees.

Santoro pleaded guilty to violating the federal Travel Act, saying he took two bribes from Dwek: $5,000 at a Toms River restaurant in May 2008 and $1,500 at an Atlantic City hotel in August 2008.

U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano released Santoro on a $50,000 bail and scheduled his sentencing for March 1. He faces up to five years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.